Nepal's Cabinet removes police chief Karki with 17 months left, names Manoj KC

Nepal's Cabinet removed Dan Bahadur Karki as Inspector General of Police on Wednesday, November 4, and appointed Additional Inspector General Dr Manoj Kumar KC in his place, OnlineKhabar and Republica reported. Karki was moved to a newly created post, special security adviser to Prime Minister Balendra Shah, Himal Press reported.

Government spokesperson Sasmit Pokharel said Karki was not being punished. "He should not be viewed as having been punished. It is merely a change in responsibilities," Pokharel said, as quoted by Republica. The IGP leads the whole of Nepal Police, Himal Press noted. Last week that force was sent to newsrooms, and courts later ruled some of its arrests illegal, OnlineKhabar reported.

A direct removal was likely to invite legal complications, so the Cabinet transferred Karki to the Prime Minister's Office instead, OnlineKhabar reported. His tenure as IGP was due to run until April 9, 2028, OnlineKhabar reported, about 17 months away. A Nepal Press headline put the gap at a year and a half.

Karki was appointed IGP by the government led by then prime minister Sushila Karki on November 10, 2025, and took office two days later, OnlineKhabar reported. He commanded the Kathmandu Valley police during the Gen Z protests on September 9, 2025. His year in charge drew allegations of irregularities in uniform purchases for election police and criticism that he ran the force on instructions from people close to the prime minister, OnlineKhabar reported. Last week, police were sent to media offices and journalists' homes, and journalists were arrested and detained. OnlineKhabar reported it later emerged that Karki had allegedly ordered those operations at the direction of individuals in the Prime Minister's Secretariat. OnlineKhabar did not name who said so.

Opposition leaders questioned the move. KP Sharma Oli, chair of the CPN-UML party and a former prime minister, told journalists the change was probably made so the new chief would do what he was ordered, Nepal Press reported in its headline. Gyanendra Shahi of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party called the decision "an extreme abuse of state power," Nagarik News reported. DC Nepal carried the same words. RPP chair Rajendra Lingden said the government owed the country an explanation, DC Nepal reported.

Karki told Nagarik News he would "fight a legal battle" against the decision. No outlet cited here had reported a court petition from Karki by Wednesday, November 4. Himal Press, however, reported that Karki had yet to say whether he would go to court and was still consulting lawyers, though Senior Advocate Hari Prasad Upreti and Advocate Rabindra Bhattarai both told the outlet they expected him to challenge it.

Nepal has done this before

In 1997, Home Minister Bamdev Gautam removed then IGP Achyut Krishna Kharel just 36 days into his post and installed Dhruba Bahadur Pradhan instead, the Kathmandu Post reported. Kharel challenged the move in the Supreme Court. Eight months later, with no ruling yet, a new government restored him as IGP, citing grounds including that he had been removed before completing his legally mandated tenure, the Kathmandu Post reported. OnlineKhabar and Himal Press tell it differently. They report that Kharel won his case in the Supreme Court before he was reinstated. Pradhan was then made special adviser to the prime minister, the same kind of advisory post to which Karki has now been assigned. OnlineKhabar reported the government has used that post once more since, parking IGP Ramesh Chand Thakuri there over the "Sudan scandal" and promoting Rabindra Pratap Shah in his place.

Today's reshuffle also passed over a more senior officer. OnlineKhabar reported that when Karki, Rajan Adhikari and KC were last promoted to Additional Inspector General, Karki ranked first and Adhikari second, with KC third. By moving Karki out, the government bypassed Adhikari too to install KC.

What we still do not know

What written legal basis the Cabinet cited for creating the adviser post. The Cabinet Secretariat or spokesperson Pokharel could release the decision text.

Whether the ruling Rastriya Swatantra Party coordinated the decision in advance. The government says the party directed the decision. The party says it did not even know, Nagarik News reported. The RSP spokesperson could clarify.